KERNOW FA reached the CONIFA World Football Cup Finals in northern Iraq next year after winning their qualifier 2-1 against FA Sapmi at Falmouth's Bickland Park this afternoon.

A crowd of around 250 turned up to see a strong Cornish side secure their trip to Kurdistan in 2024.

They were relatively untroubled as they went 2-0 up with goals from Liskeard Athletic duo Max Gilbert after 31 minutes and Dan Jennings with a 79th-minute penalty.

But the second goal seemed to wake Scandinavian-based Sapmi up, and in the third minute of injury time, their skipper Tor Martin Mienna dinked the ball into the far corner of the net after a defensive mistake.

It set up a tense finale, and there were one or two further alarms for Kernow, but they hung on for a well-deserved victory.

The Conifa World Cup involves regions from all over the world that are not recognised as nations. There is no date for the 2024 tournament as yet.

Full report, reaction and pictures in this week's paper.